Dynamically adaptive materials

Abstract

Materials experience various environmental changes during use. However, materials used for engineering applications tend to have fixed properties. The lack of adaptability increases costs, weight, and environmental impacts for structural applications because of material selection for the worst-case scenario. Similarly, the lack of adaptability limits the performance of functional materials that are used, such as with camouflage, wetting ability, and adhesion properties, because as-synthesized materials are optimized for a specific operation environment. Biological organisms address this challenge by dynamically changing the characteristics of materials based on their environment. It will be desirable for next-generation synthetic materials to adopt the capability to adapt to dynamically changing operating environments. In this issue, recent efforts to develop dynamically adaptive materials for different environmental conditions and stimuli will be introduced for a broad materials community. Then, the current challenges and future research opportunities will be discussed, followed by potential scientific and societal impacts of dynamically adaptive materials.